In Oregon I belonged to the After 8 Photo Collective, an exhibition
and collaboration project launched in the Spring of 1997 by the
member-artists
of Galleri 8 in Portland. In 1996-1997, until Galleri 8 closed, I
helped
manage our not-for-profit gallery and performance space. I regularly
exhibit my work in members' shows at the Santa Cruz Mountains Art
Center.
I have degrees in physics and political science from UC Santa Cruz. Although I consider myself to be largely self-taught, over the years I’ve learned a lot in workshops taught by Martha Casanave, William Lavin, Ted Orland, and David Bayles, and in classes at Portland State University and Portland Community College.
After college I settled here in Santa Cruz. I moved to Portland in
1995,
lured by the city’s lively art community (and a tempting job offer). I
returned to Santa Cruz in 1999, this time following my heart. Working
as
a freelance technical writer leaves me free to pursue
photography
on my own terms.
I'm married to a wonderful and nerdy woman, and we live together in the
Live Oak neighborhood of Santa Cruz.
I spent January 2004 and January through February 2005 in San
Cristobal de las Casas in the Mexican state of
Chiapas, where I taught black-and-white darkroom techniques
to the staff at the Archivo Fotográfico Indígena (www.chiapasphoto.org). The
Archivo has provided cameras, film, and photography training to
hundreds of indigenous (Mayan) artists throughout Chiapas. In January -
February 2006 I returned to San Cristobal to teach English for three
Mayan cultural organizations, including Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya, Sna
Jtz'ibajom, and Lok'tamayach (the independent collective formed by the
photographers at the Archivo).